Comments for Restless Capital

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05/31/11--20:59: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by Ben Harris-Roxas (chan 1569188)

Hear, hear.


05/31/11--21:37: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by Annette Blackwell (chan 1569188)

Jason, you can still follow Jen at Campus Review online and in our tweets. We are looking forward to having her on board. The social media nous you mention as well as her quick and incisive grasp of complex issues and policies won her the position. Annette Blackwell Editor Campus Review


05/31/11--22:06: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by jason (chan 1569188)

Hi Annette, thanks for the comment. Yes I'm happy that Jen's move is taking her to a publication dealing with our sector, and you've done well in that hire I reckon!


05/31/11--22:28: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by Ev (chan 1569188)

And a good example of that micro-journalism stuff we've talked about Jase. Having a reporter who actually knows the back story makes for far more interesting reporting.


06/01/11--15:44: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by daiskmeliadorn (chan 1569188)

Agree - glad you wrote this Jason! I often found myself reading back through Jen's council tweets... and I am probably the Greens member *least* interested in local council. Love your work Jen :)


06/01/11--19:15: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by jason (chan 1569188)

Ev - yes that's true. @daiskmeliadorn - never thought I'd develop an interest in Woollhara Council myself, but there you have it.


06/01/11--19:49: Comment on Iain Dale’s whinge about Australia’s Parliament by Lisa (chan 1569188)

Interesting point that you make about the tight rein that both major parties now keep on their members leading to 'more sharply adversarial debates'. I can't help wondering though if it also limits the possibilities for public debate (outside QT) and makes it harder for members to be seen as effective by their constituencies, especially when they personally disagree with their party? I'm not about to call it 'a blight on representative democracy' just yet, and don't think abolishing it would affect Question Time much, but still, can't help wondering.


06/01/11--20:46: Comment on Vale @Jen_Bennett’s Woollahra Council Livetweets by Jen (chan 1569188)

Thanks guys! Very excited about the new gig, but I'm so glad you all enjoyed my old one too! Looking forward to seeing what I can do with this round.


06/02/11--02:17: Comment on Iain Dale’s whinge about Australia’s Parliament by Iain Dale (chan 1569188)

Jason, I should make clear that the piece on the BBC Asia website was a heavily edited extract from an interview I did with the World Service. It was not an article as such. I did not say Harry Jenkins was out of his depth, merely that he seems to be part of the problem, and that with a change of the rules or a change of approach by him, things could be made much better without much undo effort. I have offered very little context because it was a 2 minute radio interview, not an article! It is all just my opinion, rather than meant as a general attack on the Australian Parliament! It seems that most people seem to share it from the reaction I have had on Twitter and on a radio phone in I took part in on Sydney 702's Drive programme this afternoon. I had fully expected an attack along the lines of "what does this whinging Pom think he's doing coming here slagging us off?" But it never came! You write: "There’s more to say on why Australia is different, but for now I’ll just say that it’s a bit rich seeing hand-wringing from an Englishman about the possibility that Australia’s parliament might bring itself into disrepute. After the mind-blowing expenses scandal involving MPs from all parties in the British Parliament, I don’t think it’s possible that the British parliament could be held in higher esteem by its voters than ours is." I wasn't aware I was hand ringing. I was making an observation, that is all. And where did I say the British Parliament was held in higher esteem by voters? That's right I didn't. So please don't put words into my mouth. It is ridiculous to assert that Question Time is only a media event. Balls. It is part of the parliamentary process and is indeed designed to hold the government to account. Otherwise what's the point of it? Oh, and I LOVE the way you play cricket. Especially when losing the Ashes ... :)


06/02/11--04:32: Comment on Iain Dale’s whinge about Australia’s Parliament by clang (chan 1569188)

It's always seemed to me that Australian Federal Question Time serves a very useful role as an escape valve for adversarial emotions in the parliament. Australian politics has for the whole of my life been quite bitterly contested, and the two sides, despite a lot of talk about their being very similar, retain a fairly strong ideological hatred one for the other. The anger that results from this is channeled via the controlled forum that is Question Time and everyone goes about their business without further difficulty at its end. It looks like a playground but it's more like a sporting field or a gladiatorial arena. One of its purposes is to ensure that the kind of behaviour you witness while it's on is confined to that hour or so each sitting day.